A Quiet Moment
by jacksparrow589
Summary: Well, as quiet as it gets with Ino and Shikamaru after a battle. Injured, Shikamaru and Ino have a moment with almost no yelling. At least they’re making progress. ShikaIno fluff. Oneshot.


**A Quiet Moment**

**Summary: Well, as quiet as it gets with Ino and Shikamaru after a battle. Injured, Shikamaru and Ino have a moment with (almost) no yelling. At least they're making progress. ShikaIno fluff. Romance/Drama.**

"Ohhh…"

Ino looked worse than Shikamaru felt, and if he had to guess, he would say that she probably felt worse than that. But right now, she was unconscious. Chouji had run off to find Asuma, which suited Shikamaru just fine. He did not particularly feel like moving at the moment.

"Owww…"

"Ino?" Shikamaru winced as he rocked forward from a sitting position to a kneeling one over his teammate. _My ribs are probably bruised. Maybe even cracked. She'd better thank me for this._

False alarm. Hopefully she would come around soon. Knowing Chouji and Asuma, they'd probably make Shikamaru carry Ino all the way back to Konoha. Asuma would be carrying their gear and leading, and Ino's arms couldn't quite go around Chouji's shoulders.

"C'mon Ino, wake up." Shikamaru bent a little closer to see if she was breathing regularly. Ino had taken a beating this time, he had to admit, and mostly to defend him.

A sudden pain shot through his injured ribs again, and he dipped unexpectedly close just as Ino opened her eyes.

"Shikamaru, what—"

"Ribs," Shikamaru was able to gasp.

"Lie down," Ino commanded weakly. "I'll see what I can do for you."

Shikamaru was too much in pain to even consider disobeying. He grimaced as Ino lifted his shirt to locate the bruise through discoloration.

"Are you… in any shape to… do this?" he breathed.

"Better than you," she replied. "I think you made something worse."

"_Ah!_" It felt like someone had stabbed him where Ino was pressing gently.

"We have a winner." Ino channeled some of her chakra though the bruise.

Shikamaru bit his lip. It felt weird, and the pain had not entirely subsided, but Ino was running on low as it was.

"Stop, Ino."

"You're not—"

"I said _stop_; I'm fine, and you look like you're about to pass out."

Somehow, the two managed to drag themselves over to a tree and lean against it.

"Did it help?" The question took Shikamaru by surprise.

"Yeah. You repaired a crack?"

"A break and two cracks," Ino admitted, still breathing a little heavily. "You're lucky you didn't puncture a lung."

Shikamaru braced to be yelled at. He was used to it. Ino should not have to waste her precious chakra for a bit of discomfort—she had made that quite clear, and more than a few times.

The surprise came when she sighed and leaned against him. "I don't know what you were trying to pull back there, but if I hadn't woken up…" Ino let that thought hang.

"Then why are you leaning against me?" Shikamaru wanted to know.

Ino straightened up. She did not apologize, but, out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru could see her blush. _So that's how it is._

He moved a little closer, not wanting to tax his ribs any more than was needed. Slowly, he leaned against her.

Ino drew in a sharp breath, but manage to almost-hiss, "Hypocrite."

"What?" Shikamaru felt a sudden twinge of annoyance.

"You just wanted to lean against _me!_ Never mind that I have injuries of my own _or_ that I helped you—_you_ want comfort no matter the cost to _me_!"

There it was. _This_ Ino he could deal with. And yet, the words he would usually use were replaced with new ones. "Ino, that _wasn't_ about comfort. It was my own way of seeing something. Knowing you, I should have just told you and been done with it, but that's not how I work. You want to know what that was about?" He put a hand behind her head and pulled her forward so that her mouth was against his. He waited until she was kissing back before pulling away. "That's what that was about. And don't give me anything about Sasuke or whoever the hell your excuse is this week; _you kissed me back._"

"Don't assume things about me, Nara Shikamaru," Ino whispered harshly. "It makes it sound like _you're_ the one who's unsure."

"I'm not. I wouldn't kiss a girl I wasn't sure about." Shikamaru laughed bitterly. "I just don't rely on physicality to get me the girl. Can you say the same for yourself and any boy?"

Ino paled with temper.

Shikamaru sighed. _Wrong direction to take this._ Backtracking, he continued, "I screwed up, okay? I should've just kissed you, and not just now, but when I knew I was sure. But I'm only human, Ino. I made my mistake, and I can't go back and change it, so I have to move past it, with or without you." He took a deep breath. "And if I haven't yet made it clear, I'd prefer 'with'."

Taking a deep breath, Ino sighed. "With, no question about it."

"That's what I just said."

Ino shook her head at the ridiculousness of it all. "I was talking about _me_."

"_There's_ the Ino I know and love." Shikamaru leaned in again.

This time, Ino met him half-way.

**END**

**A/N: If any of you watch "Legend of the Seeker", I was watching the episode "Denna" while writing this. I think it influenced it, somewhat.**

**Anyway, this one just sort of popped into my head and wound its way out. It was pretty easy to write, but I've been watching a lot of ShikaIno amvs lately, so that probably also inspired it.**

**Well, thanks for reading, and let me know how I did!**


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